The Almeida takes a break from its usual fare of relatively mainstream new and classical theatre to put on a festival of innovative works in various states of progress. The longest running (Thu to 14 Jul) is Mass Observation, a work by Inspector Sands looking at how global events affect our everyday lives. Poet Inua Ellams presents Knight Watch, a 45-minute site-specific performance at Camden People's Theatre (Sat), Spa Fields, Clerkenwell (Mon & Tue), and Coronation Gardens, Southfields (Thu to 7 Jul). Also catch RoosevElvis (9-12 Jul) by New York's The TEAM, about US culture and the men who control it.

Almeida, N1, Mon to 28 Jul

Mark Cook

The Giant And The Bear, Leeds

The Giant And The Bear. Photograph: Andy Wood

The circus is coming to town this week, and in particular Leeds, but it's not any old circus. The brainchild of the Unlimited Theatre collective, this inventive contemporary piece brings together the talents of circus artist and producer Layla Rosa who was part of the original Shunt Collective, and games designers extraordinaire, Hide & Seek, to create a playful family-friendly piece which is part show, part adventure and, intriguingly, part game, allowing audience members to take part. Audiences can cheer the flying ballerina, be amazed by the hanging hoop girl and test their own levels of daring in a series of games. So roll up, for a theatre experience with difference. One important request however: do not try and feed the bear. You have been warned.

West Yorkshire Playhouse, to 8 Jul

Lyn Gardner

The Trojan War And Peace, London

The Trojan War And Peace PR

Steam Industry celebrates 10 years of bringing free summer theatre to The Scoop on the banks of the Thames by City Hall with a spectacular trilogy brought forward to coincide with the London Olympics. Phil Willmott and choreographer Javier De Frutos direct The Trojan War And Peace, a new adaptation of Aeschylus's Oresteia that charts Ancient Greece's journey from chaos and war to the harmony that inspired the Olympic ideal. All three shows (Agememnon, Orestes and The Trojan War) can be seen in one night and, as ever, there's no need to book.

The Scoop At More London, SE1, Thu to 5 Aug

MC

Adain Avion/Ghost Parade, On tour

Adain Avion PR

One of the great things about the London 2012 festival is how much work crosses boundaries. None more so than Marc Rees's Adain Avion, a travelling art and performance space in a decommissioned DC9. Today the plane is in Swansea at the National Waterfront Museum, with events including a show of produce grown at Swansea City's former home The Vetch. Tomorrow it's in Ebbw Vale where, as dusk falls, The Ghost Parade will take place. Part carnival and part surreal protest, it's a mass project incorporating projections and the Ebbw Valley Brass band. It echoes the workers' final symbolic march from the steelworks almost exactly 10 years after its closure.

This annual festival of European theatre, now in its third year, threw up a huge hit last year in Sleepwalk Collective's As The Flames Rose We Danced To The Sirens, which returns this year (mac, Mon & Tue). What makes the event stand out is not just the celebration of linguistic and cultural diversity but the way food, sharing and discussion is part of the programme, with audiences and artists coming together between shows to eat together. There's much here to intrigue including a new piece L'Autruche (AE Harris Factory, Wed) from the Plasticine Men who previously created a lovely show called Keepers, plus Sleepwalk's latest Edinburgh-bound Amusements (AE Harris Factory, 7 & 8 Jul).

Mon to 8 Jul

LG

Hat Fair, Winchester

Invasion PR

One of the most enjoyable and relaxed street theatre festivals, Winchester's Hat Fair takes place against the backdrop of the cathedral and the ancient city. The result is a conversation between the old and the new, buildings and street and the big and the small. Outdoor spectaculars include Close Act's Invasion (Fri); Générik-Vapeur's Waterlitz (7 Jul), which features a 20-metre-high giant made from shipping containers; and Square Peg Circus' Rime (8 Jul), inspired by Coleridge's poem The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner. Intimate shows include ShadyJane's Sailing On (Fri & 7 Jul), performed in the local public conveniences, and Rotozaza's Wondermart (Fri & 7 Jul), which takes place in a local supermarket. Add to that commissions for Wet Picnic, which will premiere its new piece, The Birthday Party (Fri to 8 Jul), and a chance to see the new piece from all-female circus company, Mimbre (Fri to 8 Jul), and it should be three days of non-stop fun.

City centre, Fri to 8 Jul

LG

The Royal Ballet: Mixed Bill, London

Les Noces. Photograph: Johan Persson

As Monica Mason's farewell season as the Royal Ballet's director draws to a close, she cherrypicks three of her favourite works. Two here are by Frederick Ashton, and highlight his range from the classical and pomp and glitter of Birthday Offering to the evocative drama of A Month In The Country. It was Ashton who brought the Stravinsky–Nijinska masterpiece Les Noces into the Royal Ballet's rep. The stark, constructivist majesty of the work makes it a wonderful parting gift from Mason to her audience.

Royal Opera House, WC2, Sat to 7 Jul

Judith Mackrell

New English Ballet: Synergies, London

Synergies. Photograph: Maximilian Clarke

Jobs are scarce in British ballet, so Karen Pilkington-Miksa followed the model of contemporary dance and founded a small-scale ensemble of 18 young performers. Rather than attempt shoestring imitations of the major companies she has also planned a repertory of new choreography often using the collaborative input of young visual artists. Synergies certainly promises to deliver something fresh, including work by Jenna Lee, George Williamson and Ernst Meisner. The music includes scores by Prokofiev, Poulenc and Mozart and this London season also features a gala night (Thu) in which Royal Ballet couple Marianela Núñez and Thiago Soares will guest alongside Pilkington Miksa's own dancers.